Which MacBook Air?

[boxst]

I need to buy a computer as my current one is going to be returned to my employer.

I'm sucked into the Apple ecosystem (iPhone, iPad, Macbook Pro) so it needs to be a Macbook.

I'm looking at the Air as I never fully utilised the Pro -- I mostly do internet stuff, some video editing, nothing majorly processor intensive. However, looking at the reviews on the M2 Macbook Air, I need a 512GB drive as the 256GB is really slow as it is single memory module.

The one I've spec'd is 13" Macbook Air (M2) 8 core GPU, 16GB Ram and 512GB SSD. Even with an educational discount that comes in at over £1400 and seems really steep (I do get a £130 gift card). Am I overkilling the specification ?

Thanks for any advice.

[lizardbrain]

I'm thinking about swapping my old 13inch pro for an M2 air.

When you say the 256 SSD is too slow, for what task do you mean?

For 1400 you could buy the base 15 inch.

I wasn't too enamoured with the form factor when I tested in store. The round edges felt a bit too much like a phone. I prefer the sharp edges of the old design. I'm sure I'd get used to it quick enough

[ajprice]

Your spec looks fine, 16GB is a good idea as the one issue I've seen talked about with M series Macs is when they have 8GB. Keep an eye on the Apple refurbished store, they currently have the M2 Air with 16GB and 512GB for £1319 https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/refurbished/mac/512g...

[boxst]

lizardbrain said:

When you say the 256 SSD is too slow, for what task do you mean?

For 1400 you could buy the base 15 inch.

Thank you for the reply. I don't really want a 15".

For every task the 256 SSD is slow: https://www.theverge.com/23220299/apple-macbook-ai...

[boxst]

ajprice said:

Your spec looks fine, 16GB is a good idea as the one issue I've seen talked about with M series Macs is when they have 8GB. Keep an eye on the Apple refurbished store, they currently have the M2 Air with 16GB and 512GB for £1319 https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/refurbished/mac/512g...

Thank you, I never look at the refurbished store. The only downside is that it seems you can only add three years AppleCare (as opposed to annual, more or less forever cover and without education discount). Having had Macbooks for more years than I care to think about, they do actually seem to go wrong after a few years.

[h0b0]

I will be “that guy”. We have iPhones and iPads in the family but use PCs for work and network stuff.

If you want a Mac, go ahead and buy one. I’m not anti-Mac in general but I find PCs more suited to what I need.

[boxst]

h0b0 said:

I will be “that guy”. We have iPhones and iPads in the family but use PCs for work and network stuff.

If you want a Mac, go ahead and buy one. I’m not anti-Mac in general but I find PCs more suited to what I need.

I agree with you to a certain extent, and always have Parallels running with Windows installed so I can do some of the things I need. However, I really like the fact I can get/send iMessages and Facetime on the computer.

[megaphone]

I wouldn't get too hung up on the speed of the slightly slower 256GB SSD versions, they are still way, way faster than your current Intel Mac.

However 256GB is just too small for me, I have 256GB in my current 2013 Air and it's always on the edge of full. One thing I dislike with Apple is the cost of bigger drives and RAM, £200 for extra 256GB of SSD is ridiculous! I'm about to buy a Mac Mini, just waiting for the right one to come into the refurb store, M2, 512GB SSD, 16GB RAM.

Edited by megaphone on Thursday 17th August 07:33

[phil-sti]

we have the 2021 Macbook air M1 and its brilliant, we still have a 2015 Macbook air that works really well. yes they are an expensive outlay but they really do last longer than windows laptops. As a comparison the £800 Acer flexbook we bought for the daughter 3 years ago for Uni is now toast.

[Lucas Ayde]

If you are going to pay the Apple tax to get a laptop, then 16gig RAM is a must and preferably 512gig SSD.

You can't expand those afterwards, the RAM is part of the integrated APU and the SSD is soldered to the motherboard.

8gig RAM will let you run most stuff OK on its own, but once you start to fill the memory either through handling large data sets or multitasking it will page out to SSD, at which point the standard 256gig model performs considerably worse than the 512g.

Also, the 512g should wear better over time.

So at least get 16gig of RAM if you can only afford one of the exhorbitantly expensive options.

[matt3001]

Costco worth checking; tend to sell cheaper than Apple directly albeit it all depends on the stock they have (non-customizable).

[x5tuu]

I have a base model MBA M2 and the speed of the SSD is considerably quicker than my 2020 Intel iMac drive - its like night/day difference. Even processing power is far superior and thats with a number of upgrades in my iMac too.

[lizardbrain]

I currently have a 128gb MacBook Pro from 2019 and don’t really notice any bottlenecks. Everything heavy is in the cloud these days.

I’m looking at the 15 inch. I’m guessing I don’t need the 512.

[jrb43]

matt3001 said:

Costco worth checking; tend to sell cheaper than Apple directly albeit it all depends on the stock they have (non-customizable).

Just an FYI but apparently Apple "good will" varies on whether you bought the computer from them or from a reseller: or at least does according to a US podcast. They described a logic board failing 1 month outside warranty or something and Apple replacing the computer but saying they wouldn't have had it not been supplied originally by them. So you might want to continue Apple Care etc. I was convicted enough by it to not buy high cost Apple stuff from Amazon etc.

[Paulsd]

I have an 8gb, 512Gb MBA M2 and I find it excellent. I probably would have preferred 16Gb but it seems fine. Advice in the Apple store was for the 8Gb - the guy gave a reasonable justification based on the architecture why I didn't really need 16Gb.

If you're not going via the refurb store, the only thing to point out is that Macrumors are currently advising against a 13" MBA purchase as it's pretty late in the cycle and updates are due - all depends on how you feel about that kind of thing.

[the-photographer]

Source from grey market channels?

M1 16GB 1TB £975.00

https://www.technoworld.com/apple-macbook-air-m1-m...

[bitchstewie]

"Slow" is relative.

It'll still be bloody quick compared to what it sounds like you had.

Keep in mind the M chips are more than just a CPU so things like memory management are, I believe, different so "just" 8GB on an M Mac is managed differently to 8GB on an Intel Mac and might be enough.

[Paulsd]

bhstewie said:

Keep in mind the M chips are more than just a CPU so things like memory management are, I believe, different so "just" 8GB on an M Mac is managed differently to 8GB on an Intel Mac and might be enough.

This was what the guy at the Apple Store said to me when I was buying my M2 MBA - was pondering the 16Gb and they had them in stock but he said that the 8Gb would be enough for what I wanted.

[Frankthered]

Paulsd said:

If you're not going via the refurb store, the only thing to point out is that Macrumors are currently advising against a 13" MBA purchase as it's pretty late in the cycle and updates are due - all depends on how you feel about that kind of thing.

I'm a bit curious about that TBH. I guess the M1 MBAs days are numbered, so would only buy if very cheap, but would expect the M2 MBAs (both 13" & 15") to be around for a while yet. I guess the M3 chips will be arriving soon, so maybe the price of the current models will drop when the 13" M2 becomes the entry-level option.

The bit that doesn't quite add up is that I'd expect the price of the 15" M2 MBAs to drop when the M3 launches - although I guess it's possible that these prices were set in anticipation of the launch of the M3 chips.

[rustyuk]

You would be better with 16gb RAM than a slightly faster SSD.